There’s an old joke going around that goes “Say it with flowers…give her a cactus!” We hope that you’ll never need to resort to that, but there are a hundred and one ways daFlores can help you say it with flowers in a more appropriate way.

daFlores.com - International Flower Delivery

First, ask yourself who the flowers are for. What do you want to say? We have several sections on our website that allow you to pick bouquets for thank-yous, appreciation, love, birthdays and “just because.” But, even without our guidelines, a little thought will put you in the right direction.

If you want to cheer someone up, send them bright colors. Yellows, reds and fiery oranges do the trick. It’s hard not to smile at sunflowers and gerbera daisies, both of which appeal to children, too. For something a bit more elegant, you might look into our tropical flowers collections. Birds or paradise and other delights await the person you’d like to see smile.

For a thank-you, consider the recipient. Your mom or other female relative might like our tender pink roses, lilies or carnations. For a gentleman, again, look to the tropicals, or send something more generic like a tasteful gift basket. DaFlores has quite a lovely selection!

You’ll want to avoid all connotations of affection if you’re sending flowers professionally. Yellow roses are a sign of appreciation, but orange might signify passion. Your boss might appreciate one of our elegant gift baskets with a bottle of wine or chocolates, instead.

For the love of your life, just about anything will do, but red roses are absolutely classic. Whether it’s that first blush of love or a long-lasting marriage, our offerings start with simple boxed roses to a mind-boggling set of 100 red roses.

Whatever you choose, daFlores takes grand care of you. We hand-pick our local florists to make sure you get superb service and the freshest flowers. Start at our website, daFlores.com and see if you can’t come with some creative, non-prickly ways to “Say it with flowers.”  To send flowers to Colombia or any other country in the Americas please visit daFlores.com

The high romance status of Valentine’s Day is a given, but we think that Valentine’s Day is for everyone. The holiday can also be a bit of fun for the kids, allowing them to express friendship with a cheerful card. Look in dollar stores and department stores and you’ll find plenty of  Valentine’s Day cards for your kids to send.

Valentine's Day for Kids

Some schools create a “mailbox” for holiday cards. Kids “mail” the cards with a name and school class and volunteers figure out what goes where and deliver the greetings. This is an especially fun activity for younger school kids. It can be combined with lessons in giving and friendship.

You can use Valentine’s Day as a way to teach appreciation, too. Consider spearheading a parents’ initiative to send teachers a Valentine’s Day bouquet. DaFlores can make the arrangements; just visit our website and pick your bouquet.

While we at daFlores have a wide selection of traditional and really quite gorgeous Valentine’s Day bouquets, this is one occasion where you might want to pick out a pink, yellow or white rose arrangement to send a message of friendship and appreciation. And, for the men, we have tasteful tropical arrangements or bottles of wine that are perfectly appropriate.

You could also arrange a Valentine’s Day party. Children love bright colors, so sunflowers and gerbera daisies would be great flowers for a decorative centerpiece. Introduce the kids to beauty and let them have fun with the holiday. There are so many things in life that are serious, it’s good to show that some of them, while they do have a serious side, don’t have to be the be-all and end-all of everything.

Use the party to do crafts, eat red foods (pizza springs to mind) and maybe play a game or two. Don’t forget the chocolates. You’ll find all the supplies you need on sale if you start looking now. Use Valentine’s Day to have a bit of fun and daFlores will do the rest with our beautiful Valentine’s Day bouquets, centerpieces, and gifts. To send flowers to Bogota or any other city in Latin America please visit daFlores.com

Loveland, Colorado has a very special tradition. This year, 2011, marks the 65th anniversary of its Valentine’s Day card remailing program.

Loveland

Each year, the city produces a special postal franking stamp with a poem and message. People send in their cards and, for a fee, get their card franked with the stamp and remailed from the “city of love.” It’s called the Sweetheart Stamp and it doesn’t matter where in the world you live; you can get your card re-mailed.

Volunteers and the postal service combine to provide this sweet and unusual service which was begun by postmaster Postmaster Elmer Ivers, Chamber of Commerce president Ted W. Thompson and his wife, Mabel, in 1947. The Thompsons now have a park named after them, complete with plaque.

This year’s stamp has a cowboy Cupid, aiming his little arrow of love. The city also sponsors a Miss Loveland Valentine program, where a high school senior is picked for the role. The organizers say that they see people sending in their cards, over and over again. You can buy the official Loveland card in the local area or online through the program’s website.

Stamping begins on February 2 and is done at the Chamber of Commerce. Participants are invited to send an addressed, stamped Valentine’s Day card in a larger envelope. The card is franked and then re-sent. It’s a community effort and accompanies several special dances and events in the city.

We at daFlores think this is a wonderful way to surprise your Valentine. It only takes a few minutes to arrange and shows that you’re willing to think ahead and come up with romantic delights. Then, of course, we suggest you take a look through our own Valentine’s Day section to see if any of our gorgeous, fresh arrangements might add an extra dimension to your special day!

Remember: All our flowers were still growing the morning they were arranged and are lovingly put together by experts. See if you can create your own, very special Loveland this Valentine’s Day!

The City of Norwich, Connecticut has an intriguing offer: Register to get married on Valentine’s Day. The City Chambers is running its third annual mass wedding event this February 14. Couples have to register and get their $30 license in advance; the City provides a Justice of the Peace, backdrop flowers, and photographer.

If you want a no-muss, no-fuss festival for your wedding day and really want it to be Valentine’s Day, look around for special events like this. Valentine’s Day is one of the easiest days of the year to remember as your wedding anniversary and will save you tons of worry in reminders and hint-dropping.

You could even arrange something like this for your beloved, but be very, very sure that’s the kind of thing she would like. There’s nothing worse than to arrange to surprise your loved one with a Valentine’s Day wedding, only to find that she had something very different in mind!

Mass Valentine’s Day wedding events like this can be a full alternative to the type of wedding that takes months of planning, hair-pulling, family politics and stress. It’s not quite as bland as a walk-in civil wedding but saves you a lot of money and time. You can then save your money for a wonderful honeymoon or the household furniture you really want.

Once the ceremony is all squared up, you can go ahead and plan a wonderful reception in a favorite restaurant or even at home. DaFlores.com can provide gorgeous wedding bouquets and decorations and, of course, has a huge array of beautiful Valentine’s Day flowers.

DaFlores quality means that we use only florists who’ve been in business at least ten years and who have a proven track record of customer satisfaction. And, even on one of our busiest holidays, you can be sure that the Valentine’s Day flowers you receive were growing fresh that very morning.

Christmas is now just around the corner. The Halloween candy is marked down 75 percent to make way for glistening tinsel and pretty ornaments. We at daFlores remind you that it’s not too early to order for Christmas. In fact, if you want to avoid disappointment, you should probably get started now.

This season is one of the busiest for florists, second only to Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Florists need to plan ahead to ensure they can meet all their customers’ needs. If you order early, they can make sure you’re included. But if you leave it until the last minute, unfortunately, the dreaded disclaimer might actually apply: “While Supplies Last.”

Flowers are a fundamental part of Christmas. Their bright colors cheer up Winter days and serve as the focal point of beautiful get-togethers. Our full range of bouquets and arrangements make wonderful gifts for a host or hostess. Just think—you don’t have to do any wrapping, and this gift lasts through a full season. And afterward, the flowers can even be composted to fuel future, beautiful gardens.

Choose red roses for a romance, pink for family and orange or yellow for friends. Select from lilies and daisies, sunflowers and elegant birds of paradise. There is literally a flower arrangement for everyone, and some come with extra gifts, such as teddy bears or bottles of wine. If not, you can customize your gift and then we’ll deliver it right to the door on the date you specify…but only if you order soon enough.

We make it very simple for you to order early for Christmas. Visit our website and pick the language and country where your flowers will be delivered. Just fill out a few details, supply your credit card number and you’re done. You can browse our Christmas arrangements or think outside the box with other selections.

For our part, we ensure that all our partner florists are experienced and not just competent, but amazing.  And now that you’ve ordered your flowers early for Christmas, you can sit back, heave a sigh of relief, and wait for the phone call telling you about the most beautiful, freshest flowers your loved one has ever received.

send flowers for thanksgiving

Throughout the year, there’s a wealth of things for which you can be thankful. But the greatest blessing in your life is the presence of family and friends. If you have these people, you are truly lucky, so why not show your appreciation with flowers for Thanksgiving?

A bouquet of wonderful Thanksgiving flowers from daFlores will be welcome no matter where it lands. Delivered right to the door, it’s two delights in one: First, the heart-warming thought that you’ve shown your appreciation, and second, the sight of the flowers themselves!

We have several Thanksgiving arrangements that take Fall themes and colors to make a gorgeous gift. But you can send all kinds of blooms, from roses to tropical, as your special Thanksgiving flowers. Just consider the recipient and send them what you think they’ll love to have on their table. Remember, whatever you’re sending, it comes from the heart. That makes it perfect, no matter what.

Browse our catalog by theme, occasion or price range to get some good ideas. You’ll filter by language and country of receipt, and we’ll take care of the rest. We work only with local, expert florists who commit to fresh flowers and a high standard. That means that when you send flowers for Thanksgiving, you’ll be sending your loved ones the best.

You can use Thanksgiving flowers as a token of appreciation, but also to enhance Thanksgiving day. All that good food is only made better when you’re surrounded by stunning Thanksgiving flowers. Delivered to the door, these wonderful living things shine a light in the darkest time of year.

Thanksgiving flowers can fill your house with love, creating an unforgettable memory that you can treasure for years to come. DaFlores makes sure we provide the freshest, most beautiful flowers for a perfect gift. Because you care, we care—it’s as simple as that.

Happy Thanksgiving!

You wouldn’t necessarily think of Hallowe’en as a busy season for florists, but believe us when we say that it is! Our gorgeous Fall color arrangements are always popular and when you buy these arrangements, you can bring warmth and light into your home.

Halloween flowers evoke the season with their mellowed, golden tones. They set the scene for Thanksgiving too, and you can fill your house with beauty in a season when, outdoors, all the gardens are coming to a natural end.

Our fruit basket selections are perfect for a Harvest Festival kind of feeling. Exquisitely presented and featuring both flowers and fruit, they give the best of both worlds. We also have floral baskets set out in golden and yellow colors. All are lovingly put together by only the very best florists.

Order your Halloween flowers early to avoid disappointment and get exactly what you want. It’s not too soon and, at this time of year, we’re sure you’ve noticed that the days fly by. Some of you are already thinking about the holidays and buying those special gifts.  So we’d like to remind you to organize your Halloween flowers before you get caught up in the end-of-year whirlwind.

At this time of year, anything orange and golden is a perfectly appropriate choice. Our selections of orange roses are absolutely divine and, without the romantic associations of their red ancestors, they can be given to co-workers, used as home decor or passed on to friends and family. Their warm glowing petals remind you of the sunshine and brighten up those colder, dark evenings.

We also have tasteful lilies, cheerful sunflowers and, for a more exotic look, our collections of tropical flowers. And, because it’s daFlores you’re dealing with here, each and every blossom was growing fresh the morning you received it.

Order your Halloween flowers early and enjoy the best of the season in your home. To send flowers to Colombia or any other country in Latin America please visit daFlores.com

National Flower Week is a week-long, United States celebration of the bountiful beauty of nature. In 2010, this celebration takes place from 20 to 26 September and offers plenty of opportunities to have a bit of fun as the growing season winds to a close.

There are lots of ways to bring flowers into your life during National Flower Week. For a start, you can incorporate blossoms into your clothing. Cheerful blouses with floral patterns,  flower notions in your hair, or a buttonhole rose can all give a nod to this event.

Why would you do such a thing? Well, flowers are among the most beautiful miracles of nature, and the sight of them is guaranteed to brighten up someone’s day—yours included.

You can brighten up your home, too. Plant a few flower seeds, especially if you can find some that will grow happily indoors. Or, if you don’t have that much of a green thumb, try buying a potted plant or a framed picture to put on your walls. All of these will cheer you up during the barren winter months.

Head out to the local botanical garden or park to see flowers growing in a natural setting. You’ll appreciate the break and might get ideas for next year’s garden, too.

We at daFlores have plenty of flowers that you can send for National Flower Week. From table arrangements to bouquets, our beautiful flowers come right to your door. We have lilies and sunflowers, gerbera daisies and a wide range of stunning roses. Look around you and we’re sure you’ll find a place to put a flower arrangement.

Or you could send flowers to show appreciation to those who’ve helped you this year. Couple it with a flowery notecard: It’s always nice to receive hand-written letters!

Lots of ideas, lots of flowers. National Flower Week is an ideal opportunity to say farewell to the beauties of summer and surround yourself with flowers one last time. Cheer yourself and somebody else up with some high quality, gorgeous flower arrangements from daFlores today!  To send flowers to Chile or any country in the Americas please visit daFlores.com

The History and Meaning of Yellow Roses by daFlores.com

Yellow roses don’t usually occur naturally in nature, though a few varieties of the wild five-petaled rose do indeed show yellow. Because one did, a rose breeder was able to create yellow roses as we know them today.

The first yellow roses

Joseph Permet-Ducher of France had been trying to create a yellow rose for about two decades, following on from other rose experts of the late 1800s. He didn’t have any luck. Then, one day, he discovered a mutation in a field and started experimenting. In 1900, his introduction of Soleil d’Or (golden sun) launched a whole new set of colors. At first, they didn’t smell so great, but further crossing and refinement resulted in varieties that do smell just as gorgeous as your pink, red and white roses.

Victorians and the yellow rose

Yellow roses, thanks to their color, are associated with the sun. This in turn has led them to be associated with the “sunny” emotions of friendship and non-romantic affection. However, it was not always thus. The Victorians, ever-noted for their complex use of the “language of flowers,” associated pale yellow with pale, non-sturdy friendship. Perhaps they were associating it with the yellow of cowardice, too? Only in later years has the yellow rose shed that meaning and moved back to its warmer sense.

The Yellow Rose of Texas

The Yellow Rose of Texas is a folk song that tells the story of slave Emily West, who helped win the Battle of San Jacinto, the deciding battle of the Texas revolution. A modified version was popular during the Civil War. According to The Dallas News, historians searched to see if there were actually a real yellow rose associated with this song. They think it might have been Harison’s Yellow, an old-fashioned rose and natural hybrid that blooms for only a few weeks every year.

Sending messages with yellow roses

There is no romance conveyed with a yellow rose. It is a perfect expression of friendship, appreciation and caring. Yellow roses make good graduation gifts, thank-you gifts and cheer-up gifts. Any time you have a celebration, the yellow rose can brighten up the world. Because spring brings up yellow flowers like daffodils, they’re also lovely as part of a spring wedding bouquet.

The paler yellow cousins of yellow roses express peace and calm and are just fine in a sick room or the room of a student trying to study for exams. There’s even a variety called Peace. If you’re in a committed relationship, you can tell your sweetheart of your contentment with such pale yellow roses. Or, if you need to apologize, another meaning of yellow roses is of renewal, and a sense of starting over—rather like the sun every morning, in fact. To send flowers to Bogota or any other city in South America, please visit daFlores.com

History and Meaning of White Roses

While pink roses were the most commonly-found in nature, white roses are also among the earliest roses known to humanity. These five-petaled roses were pure in their simplicity but have been hybridized and developed into numerous styles. Tea roses, climbing roses, variegated roses and more all bear those heart-achingly beautiful white petals.

White Roses

White roses and marriage

A bride wears a white dress, and carries white roses for purity. Flower girls carry them and may even scatter their petals as a sign of innocence and delight. There’s something exquisite in the form of a white rose, perfect in its simplicity and gorgeousness. If the younger members of your wedding party use rosebuds, it’s a tacit acknowledgment that they’re still much too young for romance.

Red and white

Red and white together can mean unity. Perhaps this started with the Wars of the Roses, when the Houses of Lancaster and York, bearing red and white roses as their symbols, ended a vicious civil war by a unifying marriage. The Tudor rose of Henry VIII was ultimately born, a symbol that combines both roses. But in some colors, red and white is a color for death: It’s used to denote purity and blood in a funeral bouquet.

Early white roses

Rosa alba means, quite literally, “white rose.” It is one of the earliest ancestors of the modern rose. It has an exquisite aroma and predates the time when scent was sacrificed for size. The perfume ingredient, attar of roses, was distilled from this type of flower. Musk rose, also heavily scented, is another traditional white variety.

As modern gardeners started to wield their rose magic, new varieties cropped up. They’re now considered old-fashioned! Examples include the damask rose, Madam Hardy (1832) and Shailer’s White Moss (1790). Now, you can buy containers of miniature white roses at any garden center.

When to send a white rose

Present a single white rose to express admiration and devotion. A bouquet conveys the message that your loved one is heavenly. It also conveys humility, reverence and innocence. And if you need to make a new beginning, the white rose is a perfect way to express that need.

Since white roses also have an additional meaning of honor and respect, they may be used as a symbol of remembrance. It’s perfectly appropriate to place white roses at the grave of a dearly departed family member, for example, or to use them in funerary flower arrangements. To send flowers to Colombia or any other country in the Americas please visit daFlores.com